Oxytocin and vasopressin levels are decreased in the plasma of male schizophrenia patients

Jobst, Andrea; Dehning, Sandra; Ruf, Simone; Notz, Tobias; Buchheim, Anna; Henning-Fast, Kristina; Meißner, Daniel; Meyer, Sebastian; Bondy, Brigitta; Müller, Norbert; Zill, Peter

doi:10.1017/neu.2014.20

Cited by 77 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Within the endogenous oxytocin system, plasma oxytocin levels are highly variable across individuals and are often hypothesized to be a biomarker of disease or disorder (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). However, establishing direct links between oxytocin levels and specific social abilities has proven difficult, and the majority of studies have mixed results (18,19).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetic modification of the oxytocin receptor gene influences the perception of anger and fear in the human brain

Puglia

Lillard

Morris

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

176

156

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In humans, the neuropeptide oxytocin plays a critical role in social and emotional behavior. The actions of this molecule are dependent on a protein that acts as its receptor, which is encoded by the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). DNA methylation of OXTR, an epigenetic modification, directly influences gene transcription and is variable in humans. However, the impact of this variability on specific social behaviors is unknown. We hypothesized that variability in OXTR methylation impacts social perceptual processes often linked with oxytocin, such as perception of facial emotions. Using an imaging epigenetic approach, we established a relationship between OXTR methylation and neural activity in response to emotional face processing. Specifically, high levels of OXTR methylation were associated with greater amounts of activity in regions associated with face and emotion processing including amygdala, fusiform, and insula. Importantly, we found that these higher levels of OXTR methylation were also associated with decreased functional coupling of amygdala with regions involved in affect appraisal and emotion regulation. These data indicate that the human endogenous oxytocin system is involved in attenuation of the fear response, corroborating research implicating intranasal oxytocin in the same processes. Our findings highlight the importance of including epigenetic mechanisms in the description of the endogenous oxytocin system and further support a central role for oxytocin in social cognition. This approach linking epigenetic variability with neural endophenotypes may broadly explain individual differences in phenotype including susceptibility or resilience to disease. oxytocin receptor | OXTR | epigenetics | fMRI | social perception

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetic modification of the oxytocin receptor gene influences the perception of anger and fear in the human brain

Puglia

Lillard

Morris

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

176

156

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Twelve studies to date have measured peripheral OXT levels in schizophrenia-spectrum samples (see Table 1). These studies show plasma (or CSF) OXT levels to be significantly reduced (Jobst et al, 2014), significantly increased (Beckmann et al, 1985;Legros et al, 1992;Walss-Bass et al, 2013), or no different (Glovinsky et al, 1994;Sasayama et al, 2012;Rubin et al, 2013), in patients compared to healthy controls. These mixed findings are possibly due to confounding effects of sex and antipsychotic medications.…”

Section: Behavioural Effects Of Oxytocin In Schizophrenia-spectrum DImentioning

confidence: 91%

“…These mixed findings are possibly due to confounding effects of sex and antipsychotic medications. To add to these inconsistent results, higher OXT levels have been linked to better facial emotion recognition (Goldman et al, 2008), worse performance on a ToM measure (Walss-Bass et al, 2013), more pro-social behaviours (Rubin et al, 2010;Jobst et al, 2014), less severe negative symptoms (Keri et al, 2009;Sasayama et al, 2012), and presence of delusions (Walss-Bass et al, 2013). Importantly, these studies differed greatly in the sample characteristics, methodology and outcome measures used (see Table 1 for further details).…”

Section: Behavioural Effects Of Oxytocin In Schizophrenia-spectrum DImentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of oxytocin and genetic variants on brain and behaviour: Implications for treatment in schizophrenia

Bartholomeusz

Ganella

Labuschagne

et al. 2015

Schizophrenia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Evidence remains equivocal regarding whether there are differences in peripheral levels of OT in individuals with SZ compared to controls, with some studies reporting higher levels (Strauss et al, 2015a; Strauss et al, 2015b; Strauss et al, 2015c), lower levels (Goldman et al, 2008; Jobst et al, 2014) or no difference (Rubin et al, 2014; Rubin et al, 2013; Rubin et al, 2010). There are mixed results also reported for central levels in individuals with SZ (Beckmann et al, 1985; Glovinsky et al, 1994; Linkowski et al, 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are associations between plasma OT levels and symptoms as well as social cognitive measures. OT levels either in plasma or CSF are inversely correlated with negative symptoms in men with SZ (Jobst et al, 2014; Keri et al, 2009; Sasayama et al, 2012). Lower plasma OT levels are also associated with more asociality and poorer accuracy for olfactory identification in individuals with SZ (Rubin et al, 2010; Strauss et al, 2015b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship of plasma oxytocin levels to baseline symptoms and symptom changes during three weeks of daily oxytocin administration in people with schizophrenia

Lee

Wehring

McMahon

et al. 2016

Schizophrenia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Several clinical studies have found an inverse relationship between clinical symptoms and peripheral oxytocin (OT) levels in people with schizophrenia. As oxytocin is a putative treatment for schizophrenia, the effect of repeated dosing of OT on OT levels, clinical symptoms and the relationship between the two is of interest. In a, randomized, double blind, parallel group 3 week study(N=28) with daily administration of intranasal OT (20 IU twice daily) or placebo (PBO), we examined the effect of OT administration on the correlation between the change in peripheral OT levels and change in clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. At baseline, there were no significant treatment group differences in OT levels. There were no significant associations between baseline OT levels and any symptom measures. After 3 weeks of OT/PBO dosing, there was no significant difference in the magnitude of change in OT levels between the two treatment groups. Correlations between changes in peripheral OT levels and changes in the BPRS total and negative symptom scores were not different between treatment groups. Larger studies are needed to examine the effect of exogenous OT on peripheral OT levels and the relationship between the latter and clinical symptoms. Clinical Trials.gov = NCT00884897

show abstract

Oxytocin and vasopressin levels are decreased in the plasma of male schizophrenia patients

Cited by 77 publications

References 45 publications

Epigenetic modification of the oxytocin receptor gene influences the perception of anger and fear in the human brain

Epigenetic modification of the oxytocin receptor gene influences the perception of anger and fear in the human brain

Effects of oxytocin and genetic variants on brain and behaviour: Implications for treatment in schizophrenia

Relationship of plasma oxytocin levels to baseline symptoms and symptom changes during three weeks of daily oxytocin administration in people with schizophrenia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About